High school football: Physical Stratford team has look of a state contender again
WESTON – Kade Ehrike was limited to a spectator role Friday afternoon, held out for precautionary reasons. But he enjoyed the physical style his Stratford football teammates demonstrated during a scrimmage at Stiehm Stadium.
“They did everything,” the Tigers senior running back said of his team’s performance in the scrimmage that also included D.C. Everest, Shawano and Green Bay Preble. “The defensive line just absolutely stopped everything, the linebackers filled hard and we had some interceptions. Offensively, we moved the ball really, really well. I could tell the (offensive) line was really blocking.”
Ehrike has practiced with the Tigers throughout the team’s two-week camp but was held out of the Friday’s scrimmage because of an ankle injury he has rehabbed during the summer. But he figures to be in the lineup next Friday as Stratford opens its season at Spencer/Columbus Catholic.
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“I’m good (to go) … we just didn’t want to risk anything today,” Ehrike said of the pending matchup with the Rockets. “We know they’re a good team and we are excited and ready to get after it.”
Ehrike, who was a first team all-Marawood Conference selection last season, is coming off a junior campaign in which he rushed for a team-high 1,062 yards and 21 touchdowns. He is one of eight returning starters for a Stratford offense that averaged 333 yards per game last season. The Tigers rushed for 240.6 yards a game behind a massive offensive line highlighted by 6-foot-2 junior Dylan Schoenherr, a first-team all-Marawood selection last year, and 6-foot-4 junior Ben Barten.
Ehrike, also a linebacker, is also one of seven returning starters for a defense that limited opponents to 12.8 points per game.
A total of 30 letterwinners return for the Tigers, who are coming off an 8-3 season. The Tigers reached the WIAA Division 5 state quarterfinals with wins over Bonduel and Stanley-Boyd before being eliminated by eventual state championship Amherst. Stratford has the potential to make a run to the final weekend of the season.
"We feel that we are one of the best teams in the division," Ehrike said. "We know we have a long way to go but we are going to keep working every day and hopefully we'll end up in Madison."
D.C. EVEREST
Friday’s scrimmage was a final tune-up for an Evergreens team that faces a challenging schedule to open the season. D.C Everest travels to highly regarded Appleton North and Fond du Lac in back-to-back weeks in Valley Football Association matchups.
“I’ve been talking to the team the past two weeks about it,” Evergreens second-year coach Tim Strehlow said. “The biggest thing for me is not really the opponent, it’s us. What are we doing to prepare? It’s the process – going through the grind and the monotony (of drills) to do things the right way all the time.
“Today we had quite a few mistakes, which is normal for a first scrimmage. The question is can we eliminate some of those mistakes by next week? I don’t care who these other teams are, they’re probably going to make some mistakes, too. Can we capitalize on those while we hold ours down?”
Everest finished with a 2-6 record last season and missed the playoffs for just the second time in the past seven years. Friday’s scrimmage was one of the final opportunities to determine the right mix for a bounce-back year.
“It was good to see our starters come in, get lathered up and do what they needed to,” Strehlow said. “Obviously, we can have better play in a couple positions, and the cool part was that our second- and third-(stringers) got repetitions. We saw them in competition, it’s on film and now we can start to build our depth charts.”